On 2008-04-13, Don wrote:
> I've had this problem with both Ubuntu 7.10 and now 8.04. When I
> installed the ATI drivers along with the Catalyst Control Center, my
> Ubuntu installations became useless. I have an ATI Radeon X1600 video
> card which is supposed to be compatible with the ATI driver. I
> installed the software through the Add/Remove menu. I'd reboot the
> machine, log in through the GDM screen, and poof. The screen goes white
> with no menus or icons. You'd think that being an installation option,
> everything would just work. But this isn't the case. Is there any way
> to rescue my Ubuntu installation and get the ATI driver to actually
> work? If so, how?
>
> Thanks for any assistance you can give.

Try this

Press Ctrl-Alt-F1 to go to console

Log on as yourself

type

sudo dpkg-reconfigure xserver-xorg

and follow prompts

Don wrote:

> I've had this problem with both Ubuntu 7.10 and now 8.04.

Which version of 8.04? Before Alpha 6 is problematic.

> When I
> installed the ATI drivers along with the Catalyst Control Center, my

"Catalyst Control Center"? Have you installed that via Add/Remove Progams. I
can't find it there.

> Ubuntu installations became useless. I have an ATI Radeon X1600 video
> card which is supposed to be compatible with the ATI driver. I
> installed the software through the Add/Remove menu.

Good.

> I'd reboot the
> machine, log in through the GDM screen, and poof. The screen goes white
> with no menus or icons. You'd think that being an installation option,
> everything would just work. But this isn't the case. Is there any way
> to rescue my Ubuntu installation

Yes: reboot, select the second option, and let Ubuntu repair the X server,
meaning you will go back to a safe mode.

> and get the ATI driver to actually
> work? If so, how?

For my ATI X1250, both 7.10 and 8.10 after Mar 12 just work.

de Kameel

de Kameel wrote:
> Don wrote:
>
>> I've had this problem with both Ubuntu 7.10 and now 8.04.
>
> Which version of 8.04? Before Alpha 6 is problematic.
>
>> When I
>> installed the ATI drivers along with the Catalyst Control Center, my
>
> "Catalyst Control Center"? Have you installed that via Add/Remove Progams. I
> can't find it there.
>
>> Ubuntu installations became useless. I have an ATI Radeon X1600 video
>> card which is supposed to be compatible with the ATI driver. I
>> installed the software through the Add/Remove menu.
>
> Good.
>
>> I'd reboot the
>> machine, log in through the GDM screen, and poof. The screen goes white
>> with no menus or icons. You'd think that being an installation option,
>> everything would just work. But this isn't the case. Is there any way
>> to rescue my Ubuntu installation
>
> Yes: reboot, select the second option, and let Ubuntu repair the X server,
> meaning you will go back to a safe mode.
>
>> and get the ATI driver to actually
>> work? If so, how?
>
> For my ATI X1250, both 7.10 and 8.10 after Mar 12 just work.
>
> de Kameel
>
I have the beta release. I downloaded it on Friday.

Ignoramus13509 wrote:
> On 2008-04-13, Don wrote:
>> I've had this problem with both Ubuntu 7.10 and now 8.04. When I
>> installed the ATI drivers along with the Catalyst Control Center, my
>> Ubuntu installations became useless. I have an ATI Radeon X1600 video
>> card which is supposed to be compatible with the ATI driver. I
>> installed the software through the Add/Remove menu. I'd reboot the
>> machine, log in through the GDM screen, and poof. The screen goes white
>> with no menus or icons. You'd think that being an installation option,
>> everything would just work. But this isn't the case. Is there any way
>> to rescue my Ubuntu installation and get the ATI driver to actually
>> work? If so, how?
>>
>> Thanks for any assistance you can give.
>
> Try this
>
> Press Ctrl-Alt-F1 to go to console
>
> Log on as yourself
>
> type
>
> sudo dpkg-reconfigure xserver-xorg
>
> and follow prompts

I've tried it with and without using the frame buffer option. I still
get the white screen. I was able to use the ATI video driver with older
versions of Ubuntu, ones that used a previous version of XORG.

Don wrote:

> I've tried it with and without using the frame buffer option. Â*I still
> get the white screen. Â*I was able to use the ATI video driver with older
> versions of Ubuntu, ones that used a previous version of XORG.

Maybe this thread helps:
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=714034

Or this:
https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+s...rg/+bug/194430

de Kameel

Don wrote:
>>
> I have the beta release. I downloaded it on Friday.

Hi Don. I have had the same problem with Ubuntu 8.04 on ATI V5200
(thinkpad t60p).

Try this out.
Using the console, create a new user. (%adduser guest )
Now you should be able to login using the new user using the UI.

If the above is the case, then you have enabled some desktop effects
which is causing it to crash. I tried, but I could not find any file in
my home directory where this is stored. I even tried renaming .gconf,
..gcond, .gnome2 but of no use.

I then installed EnvyNG http://albertomilone.com/wordpress/?p=184 (using
this new account). Uninstalled ATI drivers and reinstalled them using
EnvyNG.

Then go to System->Hardware and enable the proprietary ATI driver.

The above worked for me and quite frankly I dont know why :-)

HTH
~preetham